I fondly remember learning the greatest measure of how positive the European Union actually is for European citizens and consumers in law school; The example involved a simple trade dispute between France and Germany if I remember the details correctly. The subject was some sort of tax on different wine products.
The mere fact that another EU country, Germany in this case, had slightly different tax laws for similar products that left French-produced products at an disadvantage, gave France the right and ability to complain to the EU courts. The verdict was clear, the Germans had to adapt and similar trade rules were instated in all of the member countries. This happened again and again in other cases.
That is how the EU works internally and externally (see the RoHS directive). The member countries have the ability to ensure that both their own market and that of their neighbors do not become too different. If Spain and other countries suddenly have an "advantage" or make trade with companies in other EU countries difficult it will be subject to legal scrutiny for very selfish reasons that will benefit both Spanish and European consumers.
I think you are very optimistic, politicians don't have to believe the law in question will actually work, hehe:)
There is no game of "whack-a-mole" if they, the politicians, are not the one's playing. The people in charge of policing and executing this law on the other hand have no say.
What you should keep in mind is that unlike the US Congress and administration, European Union member states are subject to strict control by their peers and the [superior] European courts (the central EU treaties and the separate Human Rights Conventions). So called sovereign countries such as Spain are subject to a supra-national system of law equivalent to "federal" government. In the end I believe these laws will fail in some manner, if they are brought before the The Court of Justice of the European Union.
The linked page describes the procedures in short. To quote a relevant paragraph: "The Commission can start these proceedings if it believes that a member country is failing to fulfil its obligations under EU law. These proceedings may also be started by another EU country". The European Commission is the EU's executive body and represents the interests of Europe as a whole (as opposed to the interests of individual countries).
No, you are very wrong. The ECHR is not an EU court, it is part of the Council of Europe. It decides in cases of citizens against states subject to the European Convention on Human Rights. It is the court of last resort for such cases.
The member countries of the European Union are subject to the The Court of Justice of the European Union. Violations of EU treaties and law is brought before this court. Justice is far quicker and harsher in this court.
I think your reply says an awful lot about your work environment, hehe:)
I imagine we'll use speech-to-text for most interfaces in combination with gestures of some kind. I doubt we'll use it for writing long documents, but perhaps for the draft.
IM can be useful, but as you correctly pointed out, it does take some people and awful long time to write a sentence. That might change as we hire younger workers, depending on your industry and department.
I don't regard Lync as just another IM client, I see it in conjunction with Tango, Skype and similar services. It's a video phone conference tool across many devices with IM and desktop sharing. That long phone call can be replaced with a visual medium where you can give more or less subtle cues to indicate when you've had enough. Doesn't sound a little better at least?
The future the way I see it is; email for long messages or external communication, Sharepoint and similar for document exchange, actual meetings for discussions, speech-to-text for SMS and quick IMs, IMs for short exchanges and finally video calls preferably over phone calls.
That how it's developing where I work now [with the exception of speech-to-text due to my native languages].
The possible problems with fascism in nations with extreme right-wing parties fueled by religious fanaticism is also not imaginary.
So-called "socialism" in Europe is in reality a mixed system, a balance between free market capitalism and socialist ideas. The word in itself is misleading, then again most Americans don't understand the difference between socialism, communism and social-democracy.
It is curious that you would draw lines between "socialism" and National-socialism, I'm afraid I strongly disagree with you on that. Frankly, I think you're crazy to suggest there's even a link. I have heard Americans claim as much, especially post-WWII anti-Communist propaganda, but that's not the accepted truth here. The NSDAP literally fought and legally banned both social-democrats and communists, the Nazis took power in cooperation with their right-wing Conservative friends of the DNVP.
That's the most stupid argument I've heard Americans use. An old and tired "argument" of no significance.
The Germans have their own armed forces, perfectly capable and well equipped. The US is not defending Germany or Europe. Those bases in Germany are there to serve US interests abroad. Much further away.
Greece and Spain are not the greatest markets for German products, the whole world buys from Germany. China is a major customer of German goods. If the Euro becomes cheaper it will just help their export economy.
Socialism is not a problem, except in your imagination, I'm sorry, but there are plenty of successful "socialist" states in Europe. From Germany to Sweden. The Greeks are not an example of socialist malpractice, they're an example of corruption, mismanagement and overspending.
Yeah, that decade was hard on Apple, but the more experienced Steve Jobs brought some great improvements with him to Apple when he re-joined. That culture is what you expected to die off now. I see two different companies where you see one.
The board was well aware of the need to secure a future for the company, and five years ago or so they made plans for who would eventually take the reins after Jobs. It was in all the news media. That plan was put into action when Steve left to have his operation and recovery period.
When he died the plan was already in action, the key players were trained, ready and in place.
I think what Steve Jobs brought to the company was a culture of "perfection" (or whatever you want to call it). I think they will be able to maintain that in the future, using different people obviously, expressing it their way. I think they managed to instill it in a new generation. It won't be the same, but it will be similar.
What's the point of sending a message that won't be read? If it's internal e-mail it won't be read by the recipient.
If you're trying to reach someone outside of the company you're likely doing actual work. There are probably provisions for people with 24/7 roles. Maybe they have their own separate server? German labor law is clear on the subject, you're not supposed to work outside of office hours.
I realize the security, maintenance, transport departments and so on work after office hours. VW probably knows this.
I think Microsoft is making a killing in the market with their Lync IM product(s). I see them pushing it everywhere now, and people seem to be buying it for good reasons (part of their Office 365 service).
Especially now that you have secure lines of communication with [federated] customers and partners.
Yes, you might, but does everyone else in the company need to know? That's one person versus possibly thousands. I realize we agree, but I just wanted to point out the difference.
I think we can agree that it's easy to let you know [by email/SMS/IM] that something's wrong without the corporate email servers being on?
I think Microsoft's Lync, Windows Phone's TellMe and their recent Skype purchase makes a lot of sense. Why should the average worker have to type in the future?
Video and voice-to-text makes a lot more sense. Just look at Apple's Siri. Maybe even some Kinect?
There's absolutely no way you can compare the various European countries with the US. There's just so much variety here in Europe, not a single country looks or acts like the US labor market. The UK, while English-speaking and Common Law, is still "socialist" by comparison.
To say nothing of the much more "socialist" Scandinavian countries [where I live]. In my country the unions work in cooperation with the employers' union. If there's a dispute the government's negotiator will do his job and find a reasonable compromise. I believe this describes Germany as well. Unions are not like and do not behave like American "unions".
My country has been ruled by a Labor government more or less since the early 1900s, and both employers and workers are firmly in agreement about what is acceptable practices. Everyone from government ministers to CEOs leave work at 16-17 to pick up their children in the kindergarten/after-school program or go home to eat dinner. While there are people that work later than that, here we emphasize a work/life balance, and the employers understand.
That's wishful thinking in my opinion. Jobs didn't have a hand in everything, and even if he did, we know he was away from Apple several times and for many months prior to his death.
Apple didn't stop working during that time, and I don't believe it will change under the so-called "new" management either. The managers and teams are well versed in their corporate culture.
We didn't stop making yoghurt because the "original" bacteria strain died out.
I believe the Samsung Galaxy S II is a "high-end" Android phone? It has sold many millions globally.
I believe the iPhone will remain a top selling high-end phone, but there's room for more. I agree that the article is written by an unrealistic "fanboy" of some sort. Wishful thinking.
I like all my various WP7, Androids and iPhones. I just switch handsets when I feel like there's something new to test.
I'm referring to statistics from my government, the OECD and IMF (2008-2011).
Fortunately for us we have the cash to ward off the ill effects of the global downturn. Our internal economy is pretty insular and a lot of people work for state owned industries/public offices. Our banks were already well regulated because of a past housing boom and bust. So no collapsing banks or housing market here.
Our currency is solid and gaining due to the general European insecurity. Exports are getting more expensive of course. Our unemployment is the lowest in Europe (3%). Money is flowing from other countries to our currency, banks and stocks as a "safe harbor". We're rated AAA as a country.
The EU is a major trading partner, but we also trade on the global commodities market. Oil and gas hasn't collapsed. We are one of the EU's largest energy suppliers (oil, gas, electricity). There is an interdependency there, but we can always sell our resources elsewhere.
The EU recently asked us for help, due to our cash reserves, and we decided to give a few billion dollars to the IMF. It's in our interest that the EU stabilizes, but it's not our currency or banks. How badly it will affect us is yet to be seen, we've noticed very little here as of yet. We'll just have to wait and see.
Yeah, that shows how little you know, fail to understand Europe and Europeans in general.
Actually I'm from a wealthy non-EU, Northern European country, one with low unemployment, no currency problems, no net national debt and a booming economy. The Eurozone crisis is not ours, and it has had no impact here. I do however work with clients in the EU, I know Europe quite well, and I don't approve of misinformation and lies.
The Greeks screwed themselves, with help from large international banks, and now everyone's paying for it. Their work ethic has little to do with it, most of them work(ed) very hard every day, for much longer than you or I. On the other hand there were/are public employees with too many benefits and great pensions. The issue was overspending, not underworking. Covering it up made it Europe's problem.
I don't see how that is in conflict with what I said? That's probably not your point either? I think your point is exactly why the EU is pushing for more regulation and cooperation.
Anyway, cyber-security of shipping companies is the least of the EU's problems right now. How about you work on finding a way to get the Greeks to do more than 3 hours of work a day?
That's your contribution? The EU is a supra-national government, it is capable of handling any number of issues concurrently, like any other government. That's what all those employees are for. What you are "suggesting" is plainly absurd. What do you imagine the people working on food safety or road maintenance can do to fix a sovereign debt crisis? Maybe your government is incapable of working on more than one issue at the time?
The Greeks work a lot more than that, you sure are full of vitriol, where do you get your information? Comical Ali?
If you're from Japan I would say you have your own fair share of problems including national debts, currency problems, falling competitiveness and aging population. That sounds very much like the problems of the countries you scoffed at.
We're talking about larger issues such as preventing whole tankers filled with toxic materials, oil or gas from becoming terrorist targets/weapons. They're not focused on consumer data protection in this report.
We've recently improved our physical port security, now we need to think about securing the information infrastructure to prevent attacks that could result in massive economic [disruption] and environmental damage.
Do you have any actual experience or knowledge of European governments in this area? This doesn't seem like an accurate description of how things are done in my part of Europe at least. Are you American, European or something else?
I find it hard to believe the fact that you claim to know this is how it actually works, especially in all of the 27 different EU member countries. Never mind the 50 countries of Europe. Somehow I doubt you know them all.
The report however is specifically focused on creating frameworks for all of the nations involved in cooperation with the industry.
After having read the full report in question it becomes somewhat clearer, they didn't just fill out forms, they interviewed people and held workshops with the key players.
To quote the report: "awareness regarding cyber security aspects is either at a very low level or even non-existent in the maritime sector, this observation being applicable at all layers, including government bodies, port authorities and maritime companies.".
My understanding is that this report is focused on what governments and the EU specifically can do to help, build and support for better security. In recent years the EU and other bodies have created and implemented security related regulation including provisions relating to safety and physical security concepts.
Now, it's time to look at what the EU and its members should and can do to secure related information systems. Self-regulatory and co-regulatory organisational models around maritime cyber security aspects are virtually non-existent within the EU Member States, according to the report (page 19).
Slashdot Mirror
It's a German lead European operation, that alone makes it more effective and stronger than anything from the US or B612.
I fondly remember learning the greatest measure of how positive the European Union actually is for European citizens and consumers in law school; The example involved a simple trade dispute between France and Germany if I remember the details correctly. The subject was some sort of tax on different wine products.
The mere fact that another EU country, Germany in this case, had slightly different tax laws for similar products that left French-produced products at an disadvantage, gave France the right and ability to complain to the EU courts. The verdict was clear, the Germans had to adapt and similar trade rules were instated in all of the member countries. This happened again and again in other cases.
That is how the EU works internally and externally (see the RoHS directive). The member countries have the ability to ensure that both their own market and that of their neighbors do not become too different. If Spain and other countries suddenly have an "advantage" or make trade with companies in other EU countries difficult it will be subject to legal scrutiny for very selfish reasons that will benefit both Spanish and European consumers.
I think you are very optimistic, politicians don't have to believe the law in question will actually work, hehe :)
There is no game of "whack-a-mole" if they, the politicians, are not the one's playing. The people in charge of policing and executing this law on the other hand have no say.
What you should keep in mind is that unlike the US Congress and administration, European Union member states are subject to strict control by their peers and the [superior] European courts (the central EU treaties and the separate Human Rights Conventions). So called sovereign countries such as Spain are subject to a supra-national system of law equivalent to "federal" government. In the end I believe these laws will fail in some manner, if they are brought before the The Court of Justice of the European Union.
The linked page describes the procedures in short. To quote a relevant paragraph: "The Commission can start these proceedings if it believes that a member country is failing to fulfil its obligations under EU law. These proceedings may also be started by another EU country". The European Commission is the EU's executive body and represents the interests of Europe as a whole (as opposed to the interests of individual countries).
No, you are very wrong. The ECHR is not an EU court, it is part of the Council of Europe. It decides in cases of citizens against states subject to the European Convention on Human Rights. It is the court of last resort for such cases.
The member countries of the European Union are subject to the The Court of Justice of the European Union. Violations of EU treaties and law is brought before this court. Justice is far quicker and harsher in this court.
I suppose technology can never solve the real problems in an organization, it's just another tool for the employees.
I think your reply says an awful lot about your work environment, hehe :)
I imagine we'll use speech-to-text for most interfaces in combination with gestures of some kind. I doubt we'll use it for writing long documents, but perhaps for the draft.
IM can be useful, but as you correctly pointed out, it does take some people and awful long time to write a sentence. That might change as we hire younger workers, depending on your industry and department.
I don't regard Lync as just another IM client, I see it in conjunction with Tango, Skype and similar services. It's a video phone conference tool across many devices with IM and desktop sharing. That long phone call can be replaced with a visual medium where you can give more or less subtle cues to indicate when you've had enough. Doesn't sound a little better at least?
The future the way I see it is; email for long messages or external communication, Sharepoint and similar for document exchange, actual meetings for discussions, speech-to-text for SMS and quick IMs, IMs for short exchanges and finally video calls preferably over phone calls.
That how it's developing where I work now [with the exception of speech-to-text due to my native languages].
The possible problems with fascism in nations with extreme right-wing parties fueled by religious fanaticism is also not imaginary.
So-called "socialism" in Europe is in reality a mixed system, a balance between free market capitalism and socialist ideas. The word in itself is misleading, then again most Americans don't understand the difference between socialism, communism and social-democracy.
It is curious that you would draw lines between "socialism" and National-socialism, I'm afraid I strongly disagree with you on that. Frankly, I think you're crazy to suggest there's even a link. I have heard Americans claim as much, especially post-WWII anti-Communist propaganda, but that's not the accepted truth here. The NSDAP literally fought and legally banned both social-democrats and communists, the Nazis took power in cooperation with their right-wing Conservative friends of the DNVP.
That's the most stupid argument I've heard Americans use. An old and tired "argument" of no significance.
The Germans have their own armed forces, perfectly capable and well equipped. The US is not defending Germany or Europe. Those bases in Germany are there to serve US interests abroad. Much further away.
Greece and Spain are not the greatest markets for German products, the whole world buys from Germany. China is a major customer of German goods. If the Euro becomes cheaper it will just help their export economy.
Socialism is not a problem, except in your imagination, I'm sorry, but there are plenty of successful "socialist" states in Europe. From Germany to Sweden. The Greeks are not an example of socialist malpractice, they're an example of corruption, mismanagement and overspending.
Yeah, that decade was hard on Apple, but the more experienced Steve Jobs brought some great improvements with him to Apple when he re-joined. That culture is what you expected to die off now. I see two different companies where you see one.
The board was well aware of the need to secure a future for the company, and five years ago or so they made plans for who would eventually take the reins after Jobs. It was in all the news media. That plan was put into action when Steve left to have his operation and recovery period.
When he died the plan was already in action, the key players were trained, ready and in place.
I think what Steve Jobs brought to the company was a culture of "perfection" (or whatever you want to call it). I think they will be able to maintain that in the future, using different people obviously, expressing it their way. I think they managed to instill it in a new generation. It won't be the same, but it will be similar.
What's the point of sending a message that won't be read? If it's internal e-mail it won't be read by the recipient.
If you're trying to reach someone outside of the company you're likely doing actual work. There are probably provisions for people with 24/7 roles. Maybe they have their own separate server? German labor law is clear on the subject, you're not supposed to work outside of office hours.
I realize the security, maintenance, transport departments and so on work after office hours. VW probably knows this.
I think Microsoft is making a killing in the market with their Lync IM product(s). I see them pushing it everywhere now, and people seem to be buying it for good reasons (part of their Office 365 service).
Especially now that you have secure lines of communication with [federated] customers and partners.
Yes, you might, but does everyone else in the company need to know? That's one person versus possibly thousands. I realize we agree, but I just wanted to point out the difference.
I think we can agree that it's easy to let you know [by email/SMS/IM] that something's wrong without the corporate email servers being on?
I think Microsoft's Lync, Windows Phone's TellMe and their recent Skype purchase makes a lot of sense. Why should the average worker have to type in the future?
Video and voice-to-text makes a lot more sense. Just look at Apple's Siri. Maybe even some Kinect?
There's absolutely no way you can compare the various European countries with the US. There's just so much variety here in Europe, not a single country looks or acts like the US labor market. The UK, while English-speaking and Common Law, is still "socialist" by comparison.
To say nothing of the much more "socialist" Scandinavian countries [where I live]. In my country the unions work in cooperation with the employers' union. If there's a dispute the government's negotiator will do his job and find a reasonable compromise. I believe this describes Germany as well. Unions are not like and do not behave like American "unions".
My country has been ruled by a Labor government more or less since the early 1900s, and both employers and workers are firmly in agreement about what is acceptable practices. Everyone from government ministers to CEOs leave work at 16-17 to pick up their children in the kindergarten/after-school program or go home to eat dinner. While there are people that work later than that, here we emphasize a work/life balance, and the employers understand.
That's wishful thinking in my opinion. Jobs didn't have a hand in everything, and even if he did, we know he was away from Apple several times and for many months prior to his death.
Apple didn't stop working during that time, and I don't believe it will change under the so-called "new" management either. The managers and teams are well versed in their corporate culture.
We didn't stop making yoghurt because the "original" bacteria strain died out.
I believe the Samsung Galaxy S II is a "high-end" Android phone? It has sold many millions globally.
I believe the iPhone will remain a top selling high-end phone, but there's room for more. I agree that the article is written by an unrealistic "fanboy" of some sort. Wishful thinking.
I like all my various WP7, Androids and iPhones. I just switch handsets when I feel like there's something new to test.
I'm referring to statistics from my government, the OECD and IMF (2008-2011).
Fortunately for us we have the cash to ward off the ill effects of the global downturn. Our internal economy is pretty insular and a lot of people work for state owned industries/public offices. Our banks were already well regulated because of a past housing boom and bust. So no collapsing banks or housing market here.
Our currency is solid and gaining due to the general European insecurity. Exports are getting more expensive of course. Our unemployment is the lowest in Europe (3%). Money is flowing from other countries to our currency, banks and stocks as a "safe harbor". We're rated AAA as a country.
The EU is a major trading partner, but we also trade on the global commodities market. Oil and gas hasn't collapsed. We are one of the EU's largest energy suppliers (oil, gas, electricity). There is an interdependency there, but we can always sell our resources elsewhere.
The EU recently asked us for help, due to our cash reserves, and we decided to give a few billion dollars to the IMF. It's in our interest that the EU stabilizes, but it's not our currency or banks. How badly it will affect us is yet to be seen, we've noticed very little here as of yet. We'll just have to wait and see.
It did sort of miss the point :)
Yeah, that shows how little you know, fail to understand Europe and Europeans in general.
Actually I'm from a wealthy non-EU, Northern European country, one with low unemployment, no currency problems, no net national debt and a booming economy. The Eurozone crisis is not ours, and it has had no impact here. I do however work with clients in the EU, I know Europe quite well, and I don't approve of misinformation and lies.
The Greeks screwed themselves, with help from large international banks, and now everyone's paying for it. Their work ethic has little to do with it, most of them work(ed) very hard every day, for much longer than you or I. On the other hand there were/are public employees with too many benefits and great pensions. The issue was overspending, not underworking. Covering it up made it Europe's problem.
Sorry, that's just anecdotal "evidence" from one country. It proves nothing in general European terms of specifically for Germany.
I don't see how that is in conflict with what I said? That's probably not your point either? I think your point is exactly why the EU is pushing for more regulation and cooperation.
That's your contribution? The EU is a supra-national government, it is capable of handling any number of issues concurrently, like any other government. That's what all those employees are for. What you are "suggesting" is plainly absurd. What do you imagine the people working on food safety or road maintenance can do to fix a sovereign debt crisis? Maybe your government is incapable of working on more than one issue at the time?
The Greeks work a lot more than that, you sure are full of vitriol, where do you get your information? Comical Ali?
If you're from Japan I would say you have your own fair share of problems including national debts, currency problems, falling competitiveness and aging population. That sounds very much like the problems of the countries you scoffed at.
We're talking about larger issues such as preventing whole tankers filled with toxic materials, oil or gas from becoming terrorist targets/weapons. They're not focused on consumer data protection in this report.
We've recently improved our physical port security, now we need to think about securing the information infrastructure to prevent attacks that could result in massive economic [disruption] and environmental damage.
Do you have any actual experience or knowledge of European governments in this area? This doesn't seem like an accurate description of how things are done in my part of Europe at least. Are you American, European or something else?
I find it hard to believe the fact that you claim to know this is how it actually works, especially in all of the 27 different EU member countries. Never mind the 50 countries of Europe. Somehow I doubt you know them all.
The report however is specifically focused on creating frameworks for all of the nations involved in cooperation with the industry.
After having read the full report in question it becomes somewhat clearer, they didn't just fill out forms, they interviewed people and held workshops with the key players.
To quote the report:
"awareness regarding cyber security aspects is either at a very low level or even non-existent in the maritime sector, this observation being applicable at all layers, including government bodies, port authorities and maritime companies.".
My understanding is that this report is focused on what governments and the EU specifically can do to help, build and support for better security. In recent years the EU and other bodies have created and implemented security related regulation including provisions relating to safety and physical security concepts.
Now, it's time to look at what the EU and its members should and can do to secure related information systems. Self-regulatory and co-regulatory organisational models around maritime cyber security aspects are virtually non-existent within the EU Member States, according to the report (page 19).